Jeff Gordon "Test Drive"

SVreX wrote: Why is staged a bad thing? It's funny. You guys have a problem with funny?

The problem is not that it's staged (or that it's funny of course), but the fact that it is unnecessarily portrayed as spontaneous.

They probably set the car up before hand, practiced all the moves, wet the ground etc with the permission and knowledge of the lot owner, but did not tell the salesman. They could have admitted all that (in a few seconds), and it still would have been just as funny. To present it like they did just makes the knowledgeable viewer (which there appear to be few here) feel a bit insulted by the unnecessary attempt.

You certainly could have someone act out what the salesman did (which appears very likely to be honest at least at some level) but it would not come off nearly as funny. The "realness" of the situation is pretty much the entire reason it is funny.

The whole point of it was to freak out the salesman, so IMO the only way it could be viewed as staged would be if the salesman knew about it ahead of time. I don't care what you call it, it was entertaining.

racerfink wrote: The car is a stick, not an auto. And something a few have alluded to, but not outright said... There is no such thing as an '09 Camaro. And do you notice they never show Jeff driving the car with the salesman AFTER the opening few seconds? Totally staged.

As if a video of that complexity could ever be totally spontaneous.

It was spontaneous the same way Top Gear is spontaneous. It was entertaining. Who cares.

My wife watched it and said "that's how I feel every time I get in the Mustang with you."

Heh. I'll take that compliment....

Ya'll think about this stuff too hard. It's funny. Just go with it.

mtn wrote: I agree with you, but just to play devils advocate, have you ever taken a rider along for their first ride in autocross?

One of my region's hot-shoes took an Eagles cheerleader for a ride-along at some promotional event. And since he records all of his auto-x runs, has a record of it. She was screaming pretty much from start to finish. I think he was running his DS prepped '11 WRX at the time.

When they make the turn at the "gate", look at all the tire tracks on the wet surface, where the j-brake turn has been done several times. The 'salesman' is an actor, and is in on it the whole time.

And now that I've looked at in on a bigger screen than my iPhone, it is an auto, and he's just hitting the brakes quickly after hitting the gas.

And just to really add fuel to the fire, a Jalopnik link!

http://jalopnik.com/that-jeff-gordon-terrifying-a-car-salesman-pepsi-ad-is-453519481

In reply to racerfink:

Still funny. Imagine that.

racerfink wrote: The car is a stick, not an auto. And something a few have alluded to, but not outright said... There is no such thing as an '09 Camaro. And do you notice they never show Jeff driving the car with the salesman AFTER the opening few seconds? Totally staged.

I'm pretty sure Jeff Gordon can drive like that with his eyes closed. The passenger's reaction is what makes it funny.

In reply to bravenrace: Please show me any of my posts in this thread where I said it was or wasn't funny. Whether it is funny or not, is a matter of opinion, and you know what they say about opinions...

In reply to gamby:

From the jalopnik article I linked to- A report in Concord, NC's Independent Tribune verifies what our insider told me: "Racer Brad Noffsinger, who works with the Richard Petty Driving Experience, did the stunt work for the production." I have no doubt that Gordon is an excellent driver, but I was told that Noffsinger did all of the slides, burnouts, and other stunt driving for the film.

aircooled wrote: The problem is not that it's staged (or that it's funny of course), but the fact that it is unnecessarily portrayed as spontaneous.

Perhaps you didn't notice the whole "Professional Driver on a Closed Course" caption at the bottom. I'd say they're making it pretty clear that they staged it.

Was the salesman in on it or not? Who knows? Who cares? I suspect at the very least that was his first chance to sit in the car with Gordon and discover what the ride was actually going to be like, so we probably got to see some genuine reactions.

Funny stuff.

I really don't care if it was staged or not, but I am a little bummed that Gordon wasn't really doing the driving. My respect for him went up when I thought he did.
And WTH, why didn't he do the driving???

bravenrace wrote: And WTH, why didn't he do the driving???

Even money says insurance.

You really are thinking too hard about this. Is it fake? Duh. Look at it. You don't have to look for the backward masking in the skid marks. Look at the cup holder. Uh, what's that held on with? Velcro?

racerfink wrote: In reply to gamby: From the jalopnik article I linked to- A report in Concord, NC's Independent Tribune verifies what our insider told me: "Racer Brad Noffsinger, who works with the Richard Petty Driving Experience, did the stunt work for the production." I have no doubt that Gordon is an excellent driver, but I was told that Noffsinger did all of the slides, burnouts, and other stunt driving for the film.

BOO-URNS

I see no reason whatsover to think that the fact that it might be "staged" somehow ruins it.

In fact, I may not know who drove, whether it was stock or not, or whether there is such a thing as an 09 Camaro. But I DO know who was on screen.

So, kudos to the "salesman". Great acting job! It was a funny video, and he made it that way. It wasn't Pepsi, or Gordon, or the film crew, or the stunt driver. It was the actor. Awesome.

Remind me not to invite some of you old curmudgeons to any parties. What a bunch of crotchety party poopers!

I bet you like to party with Nigerian princes.

racerfink wrote: I bet you like to party with Nigerian princes.

Nope. Their acting sucks.

Still funny!

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/jeff-gordons-pepsi-prank-viral-videos-storm-ad-141106387--abc-news-tv.html

Just saw this and almost reposted it. I had so many LOLs

If the salesman is an actor he's a very good one.

Adding fuel to the fire. The gate they drove through goes into the closed R.J. Reynolds cigarette factory. It's not like you could go in there and play around without lots of planning, permission, and forethought to set up the "security camera" shots. No way is that "salesman" an actual car salesman. You think a normal person would sit in the car while you do a donut in his parking lot, then let you out on the public roads? Not a chance in hell. But it is a very good Pepsi commercial and Pepsi sure got a ton of publicity out of this, which is the goal. Mission accomplished.